Saturday, October 11, 2008

After an evening of "OMG! McCain Sees The Light", that, either via polling showing it wasn't working, or getting his donuts crushed by angry Republicans running for office and getting dragged down with Fly Boy and Mommy Moose, the Dead Campaign Express, apparently, are not going to continue "defending" Barack Obama.

The awkward position they are in, having ripped down the curtain on the underside of the Republican Party, while if may be personally distasteful to Stumblin' Bumblin' Johnnie (unlike the Wasilla Whiz Kid, who thrives on it), they still have to throw a piece of red meat out to the drooling throngs.

“There are millions of people around this world praying to their god — whether it’s Hindu, Buddha, Allah — that his [McCain’s] opponent wins, for a variety of reasons,” said Arnold Conrad, former pastor of Grave Evangelical Free Church. “And Lord, I pray that you would guard your own reputation because they’re going to think that their god is bigger than you if that happens. So I pray that you will step forward and honor your own name in all that happens between now and Election Day.”

"What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history," Lewis said in a statement issued today for Politico's Arena forum. "Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse."

Lewis didn't accuse McCain of imitating Wallace, but suggested there were similarities.

"George Wallace never threw a bomb," Lewis noted. "He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama."

And, of course, Stumblin' Bumblin Johnnie doesn't quite get it.

McCain responded with disappointment, but also a challenge to Obama.

"I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track," the GOP nominee said in a statement this afternoon.

He added: "I call on Senator Obama to immediately and personally repudiate these outrageous and divisive comments that are so clearly designed to shut down debate 24 days before the election. Our country must return to the important debate about the path forward for America.”

See, Fly Boy and Mommy Moose spend that last week, or so, whipping up their rally crowds with "Who is Obama" and that "He pals around with terrorists" and it is now incumbent on Obama to apologize.

“Senator Obama does not believe that John McCain or his policy criticism is in any way comparable to George Wallace or his segregationist policies. But John Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just last night, as well as the baseless and profoundly irresponsible charges from his own running mate that the Democratic nominee for President of the United States ‘pals around with terrorists.’ As Barack Obama has said himself, the last thing we need from either party is the kind of angry, divisive rhetoric that tears us apart at a time of crisis when we desperately need to come together. That is the kind of campaign Senator Obama will continue to run in the weeks ahead,” said Obama-Biden spokesman Bill Burton.

McCain's attempt to change the subject from the hate-rallies he and his sidekick have been running to the accuracy of comments made by someone McCain regards as a sage isn't going to work. If McCain has a problem with Lewis, maybe he ought to talk to Lewis himself. McCain could use a little wise advice right about now.

After Palin finished her remarks this morning, the man holding the stuffed monkey seemed to notice that a video camera was pointed at him, at which point he removed the Obama sticker from the doll’s head and crumpling it up in his hand. He then handed the doll to a young boy who was watching the rally from his father’s shoulders. The boy’s parents later told CBS News that they weren’t acquainted with the man who gave their son the stuffed monkey.

And, Finally, The Big Question

Which would be, did Nicolle Wallace and Brian Rogers, designated liars for the Dead Campaign Express, have their heads up their own asses, or each others?

Earlier today, Obama remarked on recent outbursts of "Traitor!" "Terrorist!" and "Kill him!" at McCain campaign events. "It's easy to rile up a crowd," Obama said. "Nothing's easier than riling up a crowd by stoking anger and division. But that's not what we need right now in the United States."

In response, McCain senior adviser Nicolle Wallace released this statement, NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports. "Barack Obama's assault on our supporters is insulting and unsurprising. These are the same people obama called 'bitter' and attacked for 'clinging to guns' and faith. He fails to understand that people are angry at corrupt practices in Washington and Wall Street and he fails to understand that America's working families are not 'clinging' to anything other than the sincere hope that Washington will be reformed from top to bottom."

"Attacking our supporters is a new low for the campaign that's run more millions of dollars of negative ads than any other in history."

McCain spokesman Brian Rogers pushes back against the storyline of rabid McCain crowds and Obama's criticism:

Barack Obama’s attacks on Americans who support John McCain reveal far more about him than they do about John McCain. It is clear that Barack Obama just doesn’t understand regular people and the issues they care about. He dismisses hardworking middle class Americans as clinging to guns and religion, while at the same time attacking average Americans at McCain rallies who are angry at Washington, Wall Street and the status quo.

Even worse, he attacks anyone who dares to question his readiness to serve as their commander in chief in chief. Raising legitimate questions about record, character and judgment are a vital part of the Democratic process, and Barack Obama’s effort to silence and shame those who seek answers should make everyone wonder exactly what he is hiding.

Stupid me.

I always thought you had to do some heavy-duty narcotics to enter into an alternate reality like this ...

It's hard to blame Sarah Palin for her booing on the ice in Philadelphia this evening. It's almost a truism of politics that if you send a pol to a sporting event, he's going to get booed. Politicians, as a class, aren't all that popular, and it's what sports fans do. According to legend, Eagles fans once booed Santa Claus. Still, not a great moment.

“I am surprised that the candidate would go on the ice in Philly — Philly fans threw snowballs at Santa Claus and booed Beyonce because she was wearing a Michael Jordan dress," said Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals, a conference rival of the Flyers. "This is dangerous territory.”

The biggest problem: when Palin came out onto the Wachovia Center ice Saturday night — greeted by resounding (almost deafening) boos from the Flyers crowd — the two hockey players who had no choice but to appear with her in that photo op were turned into props in a political campaign. If Rangers center Scott Gomez or Flyers center Mike Richards wanted to make some sort of political statement, that would be fine, but in this case, they were thrust into a situation not of their choosing. Snider put them there with his ill-advised mixing of politics and sports.

The level of discomfort has been palpable for the Rangers’ two Alaska natives, Gomez and Brandon Dubinsky, as they have been asked questions about Palin and the election in recent weeks. Dubinsky, a 22-year-old who has shied away from nothing since he broke in with the Rangers last year, looks petrified when the topic is brought up. I think both would rather play goalie in a shootout than weigh in on the presidential election.

Friday, October 10, 2008

(I had written this post late this afternoon, with the intention of posting it early evening. However, all hell broke loose, twice, so, rather then write three new posts, or spend an inordinate time rewriting this one to cover all, I am posting it, as written, and will have updates below it)

It's been enough this week, that both Barack Obama and Joe Biden have called him a pussy, for not being man enough to level his lies and smears to Obama directly, to his face, as he had the opportunity to do at the last debate, instead the debunked Maverick has, mostly, hid behind Mommy Moose's skirt to throw his mud.

Remember in late July when Barack Obama predicted John McCain's attack strategy? Remember McCain's howls of protest in response? Well, it turns out that Obama was right about McCain's attacks. As it turns out, he knew McCain better than McCain knew McCain. I guess that means we can call him "Nostrobamus."

Here's the video of it, and you can see how much fun he was having, and how confident Obama was in making his prediction.

"Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck," Rick Davis, Mr. McCain's campaign manager, said in a statement. "It's divisive, negative, shameful and wrong."

Oh ...

"It's divisive, negative, shameful and wrong"

Kind of, like, what the Dead Campaign Express has been doing for the past few weeks - that kind of divisive, negative, shameful and wrong?"

Dwarfs, Finks, Phonies and Frauds, the bunch of'em!

Update #1 - McCain Rents Some Religion

This was the first "Hell Breaking Loose" ... Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain thought better of appearing again today in the proverbial KKK costume and actually bitched back to the foaming masses, who have been attending his rallies like Romans rooting for the lions

But then something weird happens: He acknowledges the "energy" people have been showing at rallies, and how glad he is that people are excited. But, he says, "I respect Sen. Obama and his accomplishments." People booed at the mention of his name. McCain, visibly angry, stopped them: "I want EVERYONE to be respectful, and lets make sure we are."

For me, let's wait and see if, as they have done so often, the Dead Campaign Express is playing for the news cycle (and, perhaps an attempt to mute Update #2, below), or his "My Fellow Prisoners" line the other day is a signal that he's cracking, that the Rove Rats have him in a certain "campaign prison" and he's trying to bust out.

No doubt, even for this fleeting moment, the Hannity's and Limbaugh's will be painting him wearing a dress today, and the Right Wing Freak Show will be calling for the ticket to dump him, and let Mommy Moose take it home ...

Errr ... Well ... There may be a slight problem with that plan, if that's where they go with it ...

A legislative investigation has concluded that Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power in pushing for the firing of an Alaska state trooper who was once married to her sister, or by failing to prevent her husband Todd from doing so.

Branchflower's report contains four findings. The first concludes that Palin violated the state's executive branch ethics act, which says that "each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust."

We've seen and heard the past few days, the Dead Campaign Express whipping up its' audiences (though, initially thought, more likely, plants) into shouting out "Terrorist", and "Kill Him", primarily from the MSM, and YouTubes, of just the speeches.

I have to think, maybe, people like this actually go out of their way, actually work at it, it becomes their mantra, to be so completely ignorant, to be so unaware of the world they live in, the information and resources available to them.

It’s no wonder that the slightest incitement from Sarah Palin or John McCain will turn one of their rallies into a lynch mob. Just talk to the folks who attend.

My camera was rolling for literally seconds before people happily said to me, on camera, that Barack Obama is a terrorist. If I hadn’t spent most of my time at the event inside, waiting for the candidates to show up, I could have gotten dozens of these people on tape.

Jesus, he might as well just start walking around in a bathrobe, like that old Mafia guydid, to play out that he was crazy.

Just ride around in the Dead Campaign Express, make some stops (kicking away the empty beer bottles to exit), shuffle around in the robe and slippers, shake a few hands, maybe pick up a few Slim Jims at a convenience store ...Toss out a few bon mots on his heroism, his POW days, as he rips off a piece of Slim Jim, perhaps dribbling some of the dark juice on his bathrobe.

I mean, he's down to just makin' shit up now ... Seemingly not caring what he says, how it sounds, what it looks like ... Just blathering on like ... Well ... Like an old guy shuffling around in a bathrobe, muttering incoherently.

After two debates, the visuals are getting stronger and stronger, and, by way of the sleaze his campaign is pumping out, they are down to "just makin' shit up".

But there is something from last evening that needs to be looked at and questions need to be asked - and answered

Rather than waiting for the next administration (Obama's) to come into office, and Senator McCain skipping Inauguration Day, to work on his "How To Capture Osama bin Laden For Dummies" manuscript, maybe the MSM, now that they are not in the donut-buying mood, pin down Stumblin' Bumblin Johnnie and have him articulate just what his "secret plan" is.

He blathered it in the debate last night, again, rattling off, as he done numerous times in the past year, cadence-like, less credibly that he actual does have a plan, and more like a puffed-up tough guy, convenient, jingoistic Talkin' Point.

"I'll get Osama bin Laden, my friends. I'll get him. I know how to get him. I'll get him no matter what and I know how to do it."

Other times using, he's embellished it with having to chase bin Laden "to the Gates of Hell" (which we've turned into a punchline here on The Garlic, saying "That he has chased his Vice Presidential choice to the Gates of the Arctic, and came back with Sarah Palin).

He quoted a statement by McCain -- one of many similar claims -- that "I know how to improve our capabilities so that we will capture Osama Bin Laden ... I know how to do it."

Maybe, with having all that running and chasing in earlier editions of it, perhaps he hadn't fully developed the plan at that point, for now, as he did last night, he was boasting that "I'll get him. I know how to get him. I'll get him no matter what and I know how to do it."

And for some inexplicable reason, no one seems to have challenged him on it.

It's a valid question, emanating directly out of his own statements, made, repeatedly, over time.

Put him on the spot, make'em squirm, tugging at his collar until you get answers from him, definitive, logical, answers, and not, as is often the case with the Debunked Maverick and Mommy Moose, simply regurgitated stump speech.

Over the weekend, Sean Hannity hosted a show on Fox News entitled Obama & Friends: The History of Radicalism. The star of Hannity’s smear fest was none other than Andy Martin, who was featured as an honored, credible investigator and source to expose “the real Barack Obama.” There wasn’t a hostile or adversarial word uttered by Hannity about or towards Martin. To the contrary, Martin’s claims were the basis for many of the Fox News show’s allegations against Obama. This is how Fox described him on-screen when he spoke: “Andy Martin, AUTHOR & JOURNALIST”:

Hannity turned to Martin after asking what Obama means by “community organizer,” and Martin explained that Obama “was in training for a radical overthrow of the government” — and Fox then promoted Martin’s book:

All of that led to last night’s masterful appearance by Robert Gibbs on Hannity & Colmes after the debate. Gibbs obviously knew that Hannity was interested in asking him only about the most vital issue of the day in the world of right-wing extremism — the exciting attempt to link Obama to Bill Ayers through rank guilt-by-association — and this is the superb exchange that ensued:

Well rest assured, America, after the debate there was one venue where discussion on Ayers came hot and heavy: the Fox News Channel. I think it's all they talked about, actually! Everytime we tuned over to Fox, it was "YAAAAAAGHH OBAMA'S TERRORIST PAL!" Fred Thompson wanted to talk about it! Karl Rove wanted to talk about. And most of all, Sean Hannity wanted to talk about it with Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs, who'd already endured the business end of Mark Halperin's idiot vlog on the subject. Well, finally, Gibbs decided he just wasn't having any more of it, and in precisely the sort of parry that one wanted to see turned the guilt-by-association game on Hannity, asking him, "Are you anti-Semitic?" Soon, the conversation was a mess of yelling and crosstalk, with Gibbs loudly asking why Hannity would give a hatemonger a primo forum, and Hannity responding, "BENJAMIN NETANYAHU BLURBED MY BOOK! YAAHHHH! LOUD NOISES!"

Why'd he ask that? Oh, because Sean Hannity built an entire smear-job "news" program around the lunatic ravings of an anti-Semitic loon named Andy Martin. He's not the only man of that ilk that Hannity pals around with, either. Hannity protested that he's a friend of Israel, and that it's important for Fox News to respect the viewpoints of crackpots like Martin. Not to repeat ourselves, but that's why Hannity puts the "Sean" in "shonde."

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Well, the worry at the VP Debate was the Wasilla Whiz Kid getting off the stage alive - figuratively

Tonight, there were clenched teeth, and fingernails dug into armchairs, just watching Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain walk around the stage and getting off it alive - literally.

I gotta think the odds boards in Vegas saw frantic action and heavy betting, on whether or not McCain would still be standing - and breathing - at the end.

And he wanted 10 of these things?

Jesus, by the third, he'd have a four-post walker, and, I'd say, by the fifth or sixth, it would be something from The Scooter Store.

And, this was a townhall, allegedly McCain's strength, his groove, his touchstone?

He wandered around the stage, like the befuddled Uncle that comes for Holiday dinner, that nobody really wants there, and spends most of the day not giving him much attention, yet he keeps injecting himself into the conversation, bad jokes and all.

For the record, the Dead Campaign Express Commander chucked up (by our count);

19 "My Friends"

2 "With a steady hand at the tiller

1 That shout-out to the DC Comic base, The League of Democracies

And, while Obama offered up Warren Buffet as a potential Treasury Secretary in his administration, Fly Boy suggested one of his advisors, Meg Whitman, founder of eBay, who announced today they will be laying off 1,000+ persons.You want news?

Mommy Moose's mentor offered up a startling new policy agenda item.

He wants to do his version of Phil Rizutto and "The Money Store", saying he, as President, will buy up all the bad mortgages, and renegotiate the mortgages.

Say What?

This isn't, or wouldn't be, part of the already concluded $700 Billion heist by Hank Paulson and the Bush Grindhouse

This new "The McCain Money Store" would be on top of it.

Yet, he smears Obama, blaming him for Fannie and Freddy, and continues his Old-Man-Shaking-Fist-at-Clouds shrieking about Earmarks.

And there was the harsh, heavy-handed, dripping with contempt "THAT ONE", pointing (but not looking at) Obama, telling an Obama vote on a bill, loaded with ... You guessed it - EARMARKS!

It probably (but not definitively) had less to do with something racial and a lot more to do with that befuddled Uncle referenced above becoming very animated for a fleeting moment.

Early post-debate chatter has been that the snap and dial polls show Obama winning, by sizable margins.

The Talking Heads are all but saying he was the befuddled Uncle out there tonight, and questioning the strategy, after four-days of the Dead Campaign Express calling Obama a terrorist and a liar about supporting and befriending terrorists, Stumblin' Bumblin' Johnnie never raised it or attacked Obama on character.

The loud, collective sigh you may have heard at the end of the debate was the Rove Rats, resigning themselves, they're going to have to go and purchase a whole lot more kitchen sinks to toss at Obama.

Especially out on the stump, just go around the grounds, scrounge up some leaves and branches, spend a few minutes rubbing the sticks together, to get the fire going, and then boil herself up a good, steamin' Cup-of-Joe.

Or, is this Hockey Mom-Joe-Six-Pack-With-Lipstick really a closet elitist?

The Elmira Gantry was out on the stump, in Carson, California, where she, gosh darn it, lived right up to our post from the other day, sliding comfortable into her Emily Latila mode.

Looking to fire up the crowd, Palin quoted the saying from her Starbuck Mocha Coffee.

The statement came after Palin had recounted a "providential" moment she experienced on Saturday: "I'm reading on my Starbucks mocha cup, ok? The quote of the day... It was Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State [crowd boos] and UN ambassador. ... Now she said it, I didn't. She said, 'There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't support other women.'"

Actually, Albright didn't say that. The real quote is, "There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't help other women."

Jesus, someone, a staff member, a campaign intern, buy this woman 'Bartlett's Familiar Quotations', so she can set it to memory, the way she did with the talking points at the debate the other evening.

I have to think it's going to be tough campaigning, with constantly putting your foot in your mouth.

But Wait, There's More!

Apparently, in her heavy-duty coaching and studying, they gave her Fly Boy's World Atlas to bone up on, for it was news to many that Afghanistan is now a "neighboring country" to us.

“They are also building schools for the Afghan children so that there is hope and opportunity in our neighboring country of Afghanistan,” she told several hundred supporters at a fundraising event in San Francisco.

I haven't noticed any Taliban moving into my neighborhood, and none of the local travel agencies are running promos for a "Two-Nights-Three-Day" getaway to Jalalabad.

I wonder, if Mommy Moose climbs up on her roof, or maybe, a nearby hill, if she can see Afghanistan from Alaska?

J. Grab, the writer of this new blog, which seems to track comedy, humor and satire, offered

This week I tried to delve deeper into the world of political satire blogging. I just googled a lot (how’s that for linking?) and was able to come up with some stuff in surprisingly sparse field. I find it odd that in the age of the Internet and the age of what Entertainment Weekly has called “the most entertaining election ever,” I wasn’t launched into a bevvy of sites. Here are three that stood out. I’m sure there are more to come and hope I am just dipping my toes into the world of Internet political satire.

And they had this to say;

The Garlic is a site with obvious respect or hatred for The Onion. The title could mean either. I loved this site because it is so well informed. It’s definitely pro-Obama (probama anyone?), but most satirists seem to be. It is also spectacular how they refer to McCain as “Stumblin’ Bumblin’ John.“

Pros: Backed Up Sources. You can see from that list, it’s funny, but not moronic at all. All those links are backed up sources, unlike myself who links to things like this.

Cons: Definitely not for the casual election follower.

Not bad, we can live with that.Take a jaunt over to The Grabdominal Core, and give'em some traffic and comments!

We hope, and trust, that you are all doing well (or, as well as it can be, considering the times).

I, in hindsight, probably should have posted this a day, or two ago.

As you may have noticed, I have been on somewhat of the light side, as to posting the past week, a week that has been riff and ripe with material to play with (It is much to do with my own standards - Unless I do 20, or more posts/week, I feel like a slacker)

It's nothing more then things being a bit cumbersome on the homefront, which has cut into my writing time, reading time, leaving me to turn on the creativity at odd hours, and rather out-of-sync.

The Aunt that I care for has had an uptick in her dementia (an increase in wanting to be taken "home", in which she is referring to her childhood home), which, at times, can be quite draining to deal with and bat down, getting her back on an even keel.

What seems to be effective in breaking the spells, are long walks, pushing her around in the wheelchair, going down the square, shopping (or taking her in to shops to look around) and, spending time (if they are out-and-about) talking with the neighbors.

We finish these type of activities and it's like the previous 2, 3, or 4-hours of non-stop, looped conversations never happened.

A very wise TV executive once told me that the key to TV is projecting through the screen. It's one of the keys to the success of, say, a Bill O'Reilly, who comes through the screen and grabs you by the throat. Palin too projects through the screen like crazy. I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America. This is a quality that can't be learned; it's either something you have or you don't, and man, she's got it.

"so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing ..."

"sent little starbursts through the screen ..."

Ohhh, Jesus, get this boy a date.

Someone take him to a club, or sign'em up on Match.Com, or eHarmony, for surely, though, he does seem quite smitten with Mommy Moose, perhaps some other lovely lass will be "so sparkling" as to get his attention, or "send him little starbursts".

Needless to say, reaction around the World Wide Web was swift and, yes, mocking.

Good thing Palin didn't blow a kiss at the camera or Lowry might have fucking fainted. I'm not a licensed psychotherapist but when you think the people on TV are addressing you personally and directly it's often a sign of incipient dementia.

By now you have all seen that Lowry quote (I have seen it at least five places), but as an amateur historian of sorts as a blogger, I felt it was necessary to add to the archives for posterity. I guarantee that Derbyshire poured four fingers of Maker’s Mark into his coffee when he read that baby this morning.

What Sarah Palin did was called “flirting.” And so far, at least one pundit on National Review’s The Corner blog has disclosed how much of a boner he got, in potentially the greatest Corner post of all time ...As our tipster pointed out, this sounds almost like a thrill running up Chris Matthews leg!

Too Much!

So, as we have often done, when those in the limelight need a lifeline, need a theme song for their self-created boondoggle.

We have a strong, sneaking suspicion, that Rich Lowery spent the weekend, with a bounce in his step, dancing in all those little starbursts bouncing around the room, singing this tune.

Don't Wink At Me, Sarah Palin

It won't be easy, you'll think it strangeWhen I try to explain how I feelthat I still need want your love after all that you haven't done

You won't believe meAll people will see is a Hockey Mom they once knewAlthough she's dressed up to the ninesIs all that I see with you

I had to let it happen, I had to sit straight upYou couldn't stay all your life up in AlaskaLooking out of the window, seeing Russia across the bay

So you chose McCainRunning around, trying everything untrueBut nothing impressed me like your winkI never expected it to

Fix Iraq

About Me

J. Thomas Duffy created and lauched 'The Garlic in 2005.
Mr. Duffy is an accomplished writer, with experience as a newspaper reporter, radio writer, comedy and stand-up writer, the author of three children's books (unpublished, so far) and, and, through a good number of his writing experience, actually received payment for it.
Mr. Duffy is also a Contributing Editor on the blog, 'The Reaction' and a Contributing Writer to the blog 'The Moderate Voice.
In his spare time, Mr. Duffy likes to promulgate that is actually the dog salivating that caused Pavlov to ring the bell.